Method for making shoes

ABSTRACT

A METHOD AND MACHINERY FOR LASTING SHOES IN WHICH AN UPPER AND AN INSOLE ARE ASSEMBLED ON A LAST WITH THE INSOLE REGISTERED ON THE LAST BOTTOM AT THE HEEL END BY THE TENSIONED UPPER MARGIN AND AT THE TOE END BY A BAND. THE HEEL END OF THE TENSIONED UPPER IS LASTED AND SECURED TO THE REGISTERED INSOLE. THE LAST IN SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS IS FORCED INTO THE SHAPED HEEL END OF THE UPPER TO REESTABLISH REGISTRATION OF THE INSOLE ON THE LAST AND THE TOE END OF THE UPPER IS LASTED AND SECURED TO THE INSOLE.

Oct. 19, 1971 R. T PELLETIER ETAL METHOD FOR MAKING SHOES Filed Jan. 14, 1970 & r 1 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7n van fans Raymond THU/flier [fir-l I/Bcckcr By fhelr Aflorney United States Patent 3,613,138 METHOD FOR MAKING SHOES Raymond T. Pelletier, Beverly, and Karl V. Becker, Topsfield, Mass., assignors to USM Corporation, Boston,

Mass.

Filed Jan. 14, 1970, Ser. No. 2,720 Int. Cl. A43d 21/00 US. Cl. 12-145 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and machinery for lasting shoes in which an upper and an insole are assembled on a last with the insole registered on the last bottom at the heel end by the tensioned upper margin and at the toe end by a band. The heel end of the tensioned upper is lasted and secured to the registered insole. The last in subsequent operations is forced into the shaped heel end of the upper to reestablish registration of the insole on the last and the toe end of the upper is lasted and secured to the insole.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART It is common practice as an initial step in the manufacture of shoes to register an insole on the bottom of a last and temporarily secure it in place such as by tacks. A further manual step has been provided for assembling a shoe upper on the last and temporarily tacking it in place at the heel end. Since subsequent lasting operations depend on accurate initial assembly of the upper and insole on the last, reliance had to be placed on operator skill and judgment in two separate manual operations involving additional expense in the shoe manufacturing process.

The second manual operation of tacking the upper in place has been eliminated as a separate step by the advent of modern heel end lasting machinery such as that disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,271,800 granted in the name of J. N. Allard. In the use of such a machine, an operator places a last on a spindle with the insole registered and temporarily secured to the last bottom. The upper is then located on the last and held in place by grippers. The last is thereafter clamped with the insole held against an abutment to locate the shoe bottom in a proper plane where the back part of the upper is molded around the heel end of the last and the upper margin is wiped over and secured to the insole bottom by adhesive. Attempts have been made in the use of such machines to register the insole on the last bottom without preliminary securing by tacks. However, it has been found that registering the insole and holding it against displacement until clamping occurred required an excessive degree of skill and care by the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the need for a separate manual insole spotting and attaching operation, and to minimize the skill and attention required of an operator to register and hold an insole against displacement in the use of a machine of the above type. To this end, a novel method of lasting a shoe was devised and novel devices were provided for such a machine to carry out the method. In the practice of the method the last is located in the machine in the usual manner. The shoe upper is then assembled and properly located on the last with the lasting margin of the upper extending beyond the last bottom. Thereafter, the upper is pulled toewardly and tensioned snugly about the heel end of the last so the margin forms a relatively firm pocket extending beyond the last bottom. A gauge member, such as a flexible band, is applied to the toe end of the last forming a closely conforming toe end pocket also extending above the last bottom. By placement of an insole on the last bottom, and in the pockets, the insole is accurately registered with the last bottom and held in place by the two pockets without particular skill or careful attention of the operator. In subsequent steps performed by the machine, the insole is clamped against the last bottom by an abutment; a molding band shapes the upper about the heel end of the last; adhesive is applied to the insole and/or the upper margin; and the margin is wiped inwardly over and secured to the insole. In this manner the heel end of the shoe is assembled, shaped about the last, and firmly secured together in accurate relation to the last without the need for separate manual assembling operations or the need for skill and careful attention by the machine operator.

After the insole is initially clamped in registered condition, the abutment remains in a fixed position to properly locate the shoe bottom. Due to the forces applied to the upper during the molding operation it was found that the last moved toewardly a small amount while the abutment remained in its fixed location. To avoid heelward displacement of the insole at this time, the portion of the abutment engaging the insole is arranged to slide toewardly following the limited toeward movement of the last.

At the conclusion of the heel end lasting operation, the relative positions of the insole, the upper, and the last have been accurately fixed without attaching the insole to the last. Even if the partially completed shoe is removed from the clamped relation in the machine, the accurate registration of the insole with the last bottom can be reestablished merely by pushing the heel end of the last firmly into the accurately shaped heel end of the upper. The toe end of the shoe can be lasted in any conventional manner with the last firmly held in the shaped heel end of the upper according to the method herein described.

The above and other objects and features, together with novel details of construction, will now be described with particular reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an illustrative heel end lasting machine embodying the invention,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of a typical machine for lasting the toe end of a shoe,

FIG. 3 is a view showing a portion of the mechanism seen in FIG. 1 with certain parts in different positions,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is view similar to a portion of FIG. 2 showing the heel end of the shoe lasted,

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of an abutment against which the shoe is clamped, and

FIG. 7 is an end view of the device shown in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a portion of a back part assembling and molding machine of the type disclosed in said Allard patent as well as generally in US. Pat. No. 3,138,810 granted in the name of K. V. Becker. These machines are provided with a shoe supporting jack mounted for heightwise movement by means of a piston and cylinder device 12. A last pin 14 on the jack is arranged to receive the heel end of an inverted last L on which an operator has loosely assembled a shoe upper U. The forepart of the shoe rests on a support 16 (FIG. 3) which is adjustable heightwise on a frame 28 (FIG. 1) to level the heel end of the shoe depending on the heel height of the shoe being operated upon.

The forepart of the upper margin is received in a pair of grippers 18 arranged at opposite sides of the shoe. Each gripper comprises a pair of jaws which are closed on tthe upper margin by operation of a cylinder 20' (FIG. 1) on a bracket 22 which also carries the gripper jaws. The bracket is mounted for swinging movement toward the toe end of the shoe on a link 24 and one arm of a bell crank lever 26. The link and the lever are both pivoted on the frame 28 with the other arm of the lever being connected to a piston rod 30 extending from a cylinder 32 pivoted at its lower end to a portion of the frame 28. The frame is adjustable lengthwise of the shoe along a bar 34 extending from the jack mechanism to locate the grippers and support 16 to suit shoes of different sizes. Upon initial operation of the machine, the cylinder 20 is operated to close the gripper jaws on the forepart of the upper. Thereafter, the cylinder 32 is operated to swing the bracket 22 and grippers 18 toewardly to tension the upper about the heel end of the last. The upper then is held in place on the last by the tension applied by the grippers with the margin of the upper forming a welldefined pocket 36 (see also FIG. 4) extending above the last bottom.

The machine is also provided with a gage mechanism 38 which is operated at this time. The gage mechanism includes a flexible band 40 mounted on the ends of rods 44 extending from blocks 46 which are pivoted for widthwise swinging movements on a bracket 48 (see FIG. 4). The rods and, hence, also the legs of the band are urged inwardly by a tension spring 50 to positions determined by adjustable stop screws 52 in the blocks 46 engaging portions of the bracket 48. The bracket, in turn, is pivoted at 49 for heightwise swinging movement on a slide 54 which moves lengthwise of the shoe in a member 56 carried on the upper end of an adjusting screw 58 (FIG. 1) ex ending from a portion of the frame 28. A pin 60in the slide is received in a slot in one end of an arm 62 fixed on a shaft 64 rotatable in the member 56. The shaft also is fixed to an arm 66 having a pin-and-slot connection with a piston rod 68 of a cylinder 70 secured to a bracket mounted on the member 56. The bracket 48 has a depending lug 72 with a pin 74 which rides in cam slots 76 formed in bars 77 adjustably secured at opposite sides of the member 56 by thumb screws 78. Actuation of cylinder 70 rocks the arms 62, 66 clockwise as seen in FIG. 1, moving the slide 54 toward the shoe. The pin 74 rides along the cam slots 76 causing the band 40 to be swung down from the out-of-the-way position seen in FIG. 1 to a working position where the band engages the toe end of the last as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this position the band forms a pocket 80 extending above the last bottom and closely conforming to the toe end of the last. By adjusting the screw 58 and the bars 77 the disposition of the band can be adjusted to suit a wide variety of shoes.

At this point in the operation of the machine, the operator places an insole I on the last bottom within the pockets 36 and 8 0 accurately registering the insole with the last without the need for particular skill or careful attention. The cylinder 12 is then operated, raising the shoe until the heel end of the insole is clamped against an abutment 82 as seen in FIG. 3. Alternatively, the abutment could be moved toward the shoe without departing from the scope of the invention. At this time a molding band 84 is clamped against the heel end of the shoe closely shaping the upper about the heel end of the last. The operation of the molding band forms no part of the present invention but is fully described in said Becker patent. The clamping force of the molding band 84 causes the shoe to be moved toeward slightly and since the insole is clamped against the abutment 82 the insole could be dislodged heelwardly of the last. To prevent such action, the abutment is provided with a foot 86 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) having a slot 87 mounted for sliding movement on rolls 88 carried in the lower end of the abutment. A spring 90' Within the foot and bearing on one of the rolls 88 acts to maintain the foot yieldingly in a heelward position, as best seen in FIG. 6. At this time adhesive may be applied to the insole (and/or the upper margin) in the same manner shown in the Allard patent and wipers 92 (FIGS. 3 and 5) are moved inwardly to wipe the upper margin over the insole. The operation of such wipers is fully explained in said Becker patent and forms no particular part of the present invention.

When the shoe is released from the machine, the upper and insole have been secured together at the heel end and their relationship to the last has been accurately established. By forcing the heel end of the last firmly into the heel end of the lasted upper, during a subsequent toe end lasting operation, the registration of the insole and the upper is accurately re-established. Referring to FIG. 2 there is shown only the essential elements of a toe lasting machine particularly suited for use with the method of the present invention. As shown, the forepart of the shoe rests on a support with the toe end of the last engaging a U-shaped member 102. The heel end of the shoe is held against rearward movement by a heel support 104. The forepart of the upper is held by grippers 106 and the last is forced rearwardly firmly in the lasted heel end of the upper by heelward movement of the member 102. This is demonstrated by comparing the dashed and full line positions of the last L. This ensures that the upper and insole particularly are properly registered with the last before wipers 108 last the upper heightwise and inwardly over the forepart of the last with the margin of the upper secured to the insole bottom by adhesive in a well-known manner.

It should be apparent that the mechanisms above described could be considerably varied without departing from the scope of the inventive method which is limited only by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A method of making shoes including the steps of:

assembling an upper on a last;

tensioning the upper toewardly of the last so the upper margin forms a pocket extending around the heel end and beyond the bottom of the last;

placing an insole on the last bottom with the heel end within said pocket;

registering the toe end of the insole with the toe end of the last;

clamping the registered insole against the last bottom at the heel end; and

lasting the upper about the heel end of the last with the margin of the upper secured to the insole.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which the insole registering step includes the steps of applying a flexible band to the toe end of the last forming a pocket extending beyond the bottom of the toe end of the last; and placing the toe end of the insole within said pocket.

3. A method according to claim 1 in which are added the following steps: forcing the last heelwardly into the lasted heel end of the upper to maintain the insole registered with the last bottom; lasting the upper about the toe end of the last; and securing the upper margin to the toe end of the insole.

4. A method according to claim 2 in which are added the following steps: forcing the last heelwardly into the lasted heel end of the upper to maintain the insole registered with the last bottom; lasting the upper about the toe References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1966 Kneeland 12145 4/1964 Kamborian 12145 6 1/1966 Kamborian et a1. 1210.5 4/1967 Forma 12145 4/ 1969 Leonhardt 12-10.5

5 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

